Third Scandinavian music course session

Another great session with yet another kind of polska, this time a Norwegian variety. A 'polsdans' from the border area between Sweden and Norway. These dance tunes with a short third beat are generally referred to simply as 'finnskogspols' to separate them from other kinds of polska rhythms.
 In the session I called the tune Black Marits, but it turned out to be a typo on my computer... it is supposed to by Back-Marits.

First here is my own recording of the tune with melody and the two different harmonies we did. The second harmony can be played together with the first one for a three part arrangement.

Here is the dots for the arrangement but as I have said before play with the recording first of all!

 
I found two slightly different versions of the tune on YouTube, the first one is played by the Norwegian melodeon player Ingunn Bjørgo, and the second one a version played by Atle Lien Jenssen and Olav Sæta is from the album '24 polsdanser frå Finnskogen', a CD which I played for you after the session (the whole album is actually available on YouTube).

Atle Lien Jenssen and Olav Sæta

Ingunn Bjørgo

And if you are interested in hearing some older field recordings from this area, I recommend the album "Puken i Kjerketårnet" (also available on YouTube)

The Scandinavian music course, 2nd session

Thanks for another good session last night, I thought it sounded really good at the end!

The tune we did was a polska after Elias Larsson, from Västergötland in Southwestern Sweden. I have recorded the various parts below and added an extra YouTube video with the group Crane Dance Trio (Jonas Simonsson (flute), Mats Eden (fiddle) and Mattias Perez (guitar)) playing their arrangement of the same polska. 

 

If you want to look at the dots for the music arrangement you can see them below but remember to listen and play with the recording as well. If you want to go back to basics you can have a look at the original transcription of the tune in the collections of the Swedish folk music commission here.

Some of the CDs I played before and after the course, was Crane Dance Trio, Härjedalspipan, and the Norwegian group Hått.

See you next week!

First session with the Trad Academy's Scandinavian Music Course

Yesterday was the first of four sessions for the Scandinavian music course. We met at a lovely new venue, the Vintage Emporium on Bacon street and were taken very good care of by Jess who served drinks as well as played the fiddle. Below are the two slängpolskas we played during the session, both from the island of Gotland, 'Gamble Mörti' and Vevlirepolskan (although we only started on the second one). I have also added a few links to other recordings of the tunes.
The music we listened to after the session was played by Gunnfjaun's Kapell, Jidder, 'Löfberg, Björnlert, Pekkari' and Luftstråk.

The polskas:
Gamble Mörti was first recorded by the singer Karl Lithberg for the Swedish Radio in 1956, but I learnt it from a CD with Gunnfjaun's Kapell, a influential folk group focusing on the music of Gotland. Gunnfjaun's also recorded vevlirepolskan, which has become a popular tune on the Swedish folk scene.

Gamble Mörti twice through slowly:

Harmony part (slightly different from the session version, sorry!):

Vevlirepolskan, only melody slowly:

Karl Lithberg singing Gamble Mörti:

Gunnfjaun's Kapell playing the same tune (at 3.15) in a set of short polskas:

Same group playing vevlirepolskan: